The Knight Rider TV movie — now picked up as part of NBC’s 52-week schedule — may have gotten some darn good ratings, but it’s still more than a little flawed. We can’t do much about the wooden dialogue or copious plot holes, but we can suggest a better cast. After all, Knight Rider should get at least as much airplay from NBC as Bionic Woman.

Mike Traceur

If you’re going to get a brooding hero who looks good behind the wheel of a car, why not ring up Nathan Fillion? Okay, Nathan’s a favorite here at Misfits Central, but for good reason. In Drive, Mssr. Fillion played a high-speed good guy with a dark side, perfect preparation for Knight Rider. Plus, Firefly showed us Nathan can portray the sort of hero who swoops in, rights wrongs with either charm or fisticuffs, and rides off into the sunset. That’s perfect for Mike Traceur.

Sarah Graiman

You gotta love a super-genius who squeals like a schoolgirl when the car she designed does, well, what she designed it to do. Let’s give Sarah a bit more gravitas and cast Liza Weil, Paris on Gilmore Girls. She’s smart, she’s beautiful and she has the steely willpower to run a crimefighting organization with Mike Traceur. Runner up would be Jewel Staite, Fillion’s Firefly co-star and one of the shiniest mechanics on television.

KITT

Val Kilmer sounded like he literally phoned in his performance during the pilot movie. Seriously, brother sounded bored. Will Arnett’s original take, from what we could hear, was sly and snarky. A new KITT, though, cries for a totally new direction, and we suggest Michael Clarke Duncan. His bass purr, the neo-James Earl Jones, works great for the Mustang muscle car.

Carrie Rivai

Exotic lipstick lesbian FBI agent. It’s like the character was written for us! But should Carrie merely be the government’s liaison with FLAG, or an ass-kicking supercop? With due apologies to Sydney Tamaiia Poitier, Poitier’s more bureaucrat than action heroine. Let’s face it, Dollhouse will be lucky to last an entire season, so Eliza Dushku would be perfect in this role.

Dylan Fass

Uh, why? Why was this character even written? Oh, sure, he turns up at the end as Mike’s mechanic, but that role could be filled by, you know, the scientist and his daughter who created KITT. Can we ditch Dylan? No? Then get television’s best spy-gadget maker, Kevin Weisman. I’d even excuse NBC from being cutesy and porting over the entire Marshall Flinkman character, name and all.

Michael Knight

The Hoff. Did you think we were going to mess with perfection? Seriously, David Hasslehoff’s cameo performance was the best acting of the movie. Interpret that as you will.

About Tamara Brooks

A few things I wondered about as a kid: Why didn't Wonder Woman punch more bad guys in the face on the tv show?; How does Superman flying around the Earth turn back time?; Could someone really catch bullets with their teeth?; Why didn't the liquid bits of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man cause 3rd degree burns on whoever it landed on? Because melted marshmallow is up there with molten hot lava.

Quentin

I find it hard to believe that Nathan is a favorite at Misfit Central otherwise you guys would have wanted him cast in a good show. Granted he would be an infinate upgrade over the guy they did cast, but still, why would you wish a part this bad on him?

badmemory

Kevin Weisman is a good actor. I just find his character in Alias was pretty damn annoying.
I don’t think I’ve seen Liza Weil on anything other than Gilmore Girls. But I could definitely see her as a sardonic foil to Nathan’s gung-ho machismo character.
Eliza is just plain HOT! ’nuff said.

AndreaC

OMG! So did I Jeanne (misread the headline, that is), and was on the phone calling my husband to tell him Nathan had been recast in the part and was disappointed when I actually got around to reading the article…. At any rate, I disagree with the poster who said Fillion is too old – I mean, do we need the main character to have “daddy issues”? And do we need to make Michael Knight into a deadbeat dad (even if the Hoff in real life IS having issues….)? I don’t think so. I didn’t like their excuse for why Michael Knight left them. Very poor and glossed over.

Jeanne

You had me at Nathan Fillion. In fact, I’m now a little angry that he’s not in the show. Seriously, I misread the headline and thought that Fillion had been cast and was actually considering watching the show.

Amy Lynne

With this cast I would actually watch the show. Why Liza Weil has not been cast on any show since the Gilmore Girls is beyond me.

AndreaC

Well, I’d watch Nathan Fillion in ANYTHING, so this casting works for me! But I don’t think I like Michael Duncan Clarke as KITT’s voice. I admit Val Kilmer’s voiceover sounded dry and distant, but I don’t blame him – I blame the last minute recasting of the voiceover and the fact that he probably did do it by phone! If we HAVE to have someone other than William Daniels voice KITT, well, I got nothing. I want William Daniels back…

Chas

Will Arnett was supposed to be the voice of KITT in the pilot…I believe he’d already recorded all of the audio. Unfortunately, GMC, whom he does Chevy commercial voiceovers for, said no because they pay him millions of dollars a year and the new KITT was a Ford.
Can’t blame ’em, really…nor can I blame Arnett for not killing his cash cow.

hacker10

I was Knight Rider fan in the
1980s, & I watched the Knight
Rider Movie Shelby, & it was
terrible, it ain’t the same, due to the cars we have today are
more advanced from the 1980s cars today. I would say let this show rest in peace just like the bionic women.

bandwidth

Wooden dialogue and copious plot holes? Maybe you should start by fancying some writers before bringing in good actors to suffer through inept writing.

Video Beagle

Nathan Fillion? Let’s put aside that he’s perhaps a bit too old to be playing a young action lead with daddy issues these days, the idea is to cast a show that won’t be instantly canceled. I like him as much as the next sci-fi geek, but seriously, he’s Neilson’s poison.

Mom of 2

WOULD TOTALLY WATCH IT IF PARIS WAS ON! Didn’t watch the movie and had most definitely decided wasn’t going to when I heard about Val Kilmer. Seriously, he’s doing voiceovers now? At least Will Arnett still has a career and rumor has it made it interesting. Don’t like Michael Clark Duncan though. Almost too James Earl Jones, might remind me Darth Vader in the car. And why does the voice have to be a man? Couldn’t you picture a young Kathleen Turner talking? But if you had to go with a man, then I would suggest someone with a little more snark like Will Arnett. James Spader could do it if he wasn’t in Boston Legal.

Dean

Not bad. Actors from many shows I used to watch or still do. I agree totally about the “remake” movie. The car was cool, but the script was horrible and the characters were so uninteresting.

http://www.heathensguide.com Wm. Hopper

I would pay to see Fillion a Knight Rider. DO NOT LET THIS IDEA DIE! It is perfect, and soooooooooooo much better than the cardboard casting done on the original.